Colours for life

Memories are like collage. Every moment big and small, happy and not so happy is stored in the CPU of the mind. Together they make a beautiful picture. Yet, some pieces of these picture are far etched into our minds. As regards my life is concerned one of such pieces is relating to Holi which I celebrated as a child.

 My mother had woke up early. She had started making the puranpolis. In Maharashtrian households the sweet chapatis known as puranpolis form the essential part of holi festivities. I had hot puranpoli and went out to play in colours. My father had brought me seven colours. I was very happy at the sight of those colours. What made me even happier was that I was able to discern all the colours properly. My father was very proud that his child who went to nursery was able to recognize the colours.

As I was a child, the elder boys did not wish to play with me. They thought I would cry if the colour went into my eyes. They just applied a tika of red on my forehead and asked me to go home. I then went to my cousins home. My cousin Radha was elder to me my two years. She was more than happy to learn that I had come to play holi with her.

“Mahi apply the red colour on my cheeks.” She said. I applied the red colour on her cheeks with my tiny palms.

“Now green on my nose.” She said. I did as she had said. She went on describing the colour and the body part on which it had to be applied. I followed her obediently. She kept on feeling those colours.

I was very surprised as to how she felt those colours. She said green was cooler than red and she was able to discern all the colours which I had applied on her. She said she thoroughly enjoyed playing Holi with her. As she was blind children of her age were reluctant to play with her.

Radha was blind. But there was no darkness in her life. She could feel colours. Thereafter I became her regular companion. I would play with her. When we grew up, I would take her out for movies. I would also read books for her. She would share a joke with me and we would laugh for hours.

Till date that Holi with Radha is special for me. It taught me so many things. It taught me to extend the periphery of your celebrations to those who for some reason or the other cannot be a part of the festivities. It taught me that even if a person may be blind, she still yearns for colours in her life. Colours of happiness, colours of friendship and of course colours of Holi.That Holi drenched me in colours which lasted for my life.

“I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”